It started off like any other day. The kind of day that's so ordinary, you barely remember it even
happened. The sun was out, not too harsh, not too gentle. Just… normal. Linus was heading to the nearby
store, walking that same narrow dirt path he'd used a hundred times before. Headphones in. List in his
head. Bread, Soap and Water. Just the basics.
And then, nothing. No warning. No sound. No flash. No pain. Just black. Like someone flipped a switch
in his brain. One second he was on that path. The next, he was waking up on the floor of a place he'd never
seen before.
It was cold. Not freezing, but enough to bite through his shirt. He blinked hard, trying to focus,his head pounding.
Overhead, harsh white lights buzzed faintly, stretching across a ceiling so far up it felt like he was staring
into the sky. The room, building, or whatever it was, was enormous. Easily the size of a cruise ship.
Maybe bigger. Walls of smooth steel curved up around him, sterile and inhuman. No windows. No
doors he could see. Just a sea of people. Thousands of them.
Some were already on their feet, shouting. Others sat still, frozen in place like statues, their brains still
trying to catch up to whatever just happened. He could feel the panic in the air thick and electric, like a
storm about to break. He heard someone screaming. A woman, maybe in her forties, her voice cracking
from fear. Another man kept pacing in circles, mumbling, "This has to be a dream. This has to be a
dream." Over and over. Like a mantra. Like if he said it enough times, it might become true.
Others weren't saying anything at all. Just blank stares. Wide eyes. People hugging themselves or each
other. A few were sobbing quietly. A guy beside him threw up. He could smell it, sharp and sour, mixing
with sweat, metal and dread.
He sat there, heart pounding, trying to breathe through the rising panic in his chest. His hands were
trembling. Linus didn't know where he was, how he got there, or who had brought him there. But the worst part? He
wasn't sure if he was ever going to leave.
As the panic started to settle, not disappear, just simmer beneath the surface, he found himself
breathing more steadily. His heart was still racing, but the initial fog in his head was clearing. He stood
up, slowly, scanning the space around him.
It was massive. The ceiling seemed impossibly high, the walls smooth and metallic, stretching outward
like we were inside something designed.
And then the people—thousands of them, scattered across the open space. He started noticing the
details. The accents. The languages. The expressions. These weren't just people from one place. The were from everywhere. Different countries, skin tones, clothing. Linus could hear some
conversations in languages he couldn't begin to understand, and others he could only vaguely recognize.
But something else became clear too. People were starting to gather, not based on friendship,
because no one here seemed to know anyone else but, based on familiarity. Language. Small clusters were forming naturally. A group of Spanish speakers were huddled together, speaking
quickly and glancing around nervously. Another group, clearly West African, exchanging quick, tense
sentences. A man nearby was trying to comfort an elderly woman, while a few others who spoke
Arabic stood back-to-back, watching the crowd cautiously.
It was like survival instincts had kicked in. People gravitated toward what felt safe. A familiar word.
An accent. A flag on a shirt. Anything that felt like home in a place that felt like nowhere.
He looked around for anyone he might recognize. Nothing. No familiar faces. No friends. No family. Just
strangers. Everyone was a stranger.
Some sat in silence, too shocked to speak. Others argued about what might have happened,
abduction, accident, social experiment. No one had answers. No one even knew when they got here.
Just... one moment they were living their lives, and the next they woke up in this place. Just like him.
It felt wrong. Like something way bigger than us was at play. Something watching. Waiting. Planning.
And all we could do was wonder: Why us? Why here? And what happens next?
The noise in the room never fully stopped, just faded into a constant hum of voices, whispers, pacing
feet, and muffled sobs. But then it all vanished.
Not gradually, Instantly.
A sound, deep, mechanical, and vibrating through the floor cut through the air like a blade. Every
voice fell silent. Every head turned upward. Linus didn't even realize he was holding his breath until it left his lungs in a shaky exhale.
Then it spoke. A voice. Booming. Echoing. Not from one place, but from everywhere. As if the walls
themselves had started to speak.
"Welcome… to Project Ascension."
The words hung in the air, surreal and suffocating. A few people gasped. One woman screamed.
Another dropped to her knees, shaking her head as if trying to wake up from a nightmare.
"Do not panic," the voice continued, unnervingly calm and controlled. "You have been selected for a
purpose. Each of you is here because of something that is basically out of your control. There is no resisting,as from this point,your decisions determine your fate.The truth will soon become clear."
Linus swallowed hard. My mouth was dry. 'Selected'? For what? Who decides something like that?
The voice paused, letting the weight of its words settle into our bones.
"Ahead of you lie trials. You will be tested. You will be observed. Only the strong can adapt… and only
those who adapt will survive."